caste of bankers, moneylenders and dealers in grain, _ghi_ (butter),
groceries and spices. The name Bania is derived from the Sanskrit
_vanij_, a merchant. In western India the Banias are always called
Vania or Vani. Mahajan literally means a great man, and being applied
to successful Banias as an honorific title has now come to signify a
banker or moneylender; Seth signifies a great merchant or capitalist,
and is applied to Banias as an honorific prefix. The words _Sahu_,
_Sao_ and _Sahukar_ mean upright or honest, and have also, curiously
enough, come to signify a moneylender. The total number of Banias in
the Central Provinces in 1911 was about 200,000, or rather over one
per cent of the population. Of the above total two-thirds were Hindus
and one-third Jains. The caste is fairly distributed over the whole
Province, being most numerous in Districts with large towns and a
considerable volume of trade.

2. The Banias a true caste: use of the name.

There has been much difference of opinion as to whether the name
Bania should be taken to signify a caste, or whether it is merely an
occupational term applied to a number of distinct castes. I venture
to think it is necessary and scientifically correct to take it as a
caste. In Bengal the word Banian, a corruption of Bania, has probably
come to be a general term meaning simply a banker, or person dealing
in money. But this does not seem to be the case elsewhere. As a
rule the name Bania is used only as a caste name for groups who are
considered both by themselves and outsiders to belong to the Bania
caste. It may occasionally be applied to members of other castes,
as in the case of certain Teli-Banias who have abandoned oil-pressing
for shop-keeping, but such instances are very rare; and these Telis
would probably now assert that they belonged to the Bania caste. That
the Banias are recognised as a distinct caste by the people is shown
by the number of uncomplimentary proverbs and sayings about them,
which is far larger than in the case of any other caste. [115] In
all these the name Bania is used and not that of any subdivision,
and this indicates that none of the subdivisions are looked upon
as distinctive social groups or castes. Moreover, so far as I am
aware, the name Bania is applied regularly to all the groups usually
classified under the caste, and there is no group which objects to the
name or whose members refuse to describe themselves by it. This is by